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Montgomery County’s Bad Check Mediation Program provides merchants and receivers of bad checks a quick and effective way to recover their losses.  The program identifies repeat offenders and concentrates prosecution efforts on those offenders.  Between July 2008 and June 2009, this program collected $181,372 for merchants. 

The program has several requirements.  A merchant can qualify for the program if he has received a bad check for goods or services in the last six months, and the goods were not returned to him.  The check writer has to have either stopped payment or written the check on an account that was closed or contained insufficient funds.  The last requirement is that the check have been deposited and rejected by a bank within 30 days of issuance.  Several types of checks do not qualify for the program: payroll, rent, installment, post-dated, third-party, and checks with “stopped payment for services.”

A merchant who believes he qualifies for the Bad Check Program should send a certified, return-receipt letter to the check writer describing the bad check and making a demand for payment within 10 days.  If payment is not received, he then should contact the Bad Check Program at (240) 777-7319 to schedule an appointment. There is a $15 charge per check.  The merchant should be ready to provide as many of the following as possible: the check writer’s name, address, birth date, physical description, and driver’s license number.  A witness who remembers the transaction also will be helpful.

A similar program, the Rental Return Restitution Program, offers merchants a quick, effective way to recover their rental property and fees.  Like Bad Check Mediation, it helps focus prosecution on serious offenders.  Rental Return recovered almost $210,000 for county merchants between June 2008 and July 2009.

For more details, check the web site at: www.montgomerycountymd.gov/sao

The Victim Witness Coordinators in the State’s Attorney’s Office act as liaisons between prosecutors and the victims or witnesses in their cases. The goal is to support victims and witnesses and help them understand the court process and office procedures, as well as assist the attorneys.  Coordinators help in all victim-intensive cases and in other cases as needed. Their services are flexible, conforming to the needs of the victim or witness.

One special program is Victim Information and Notification Everyday (VINE).  This program was created to provide access to important custody and court information, any time of day, any day of the year.  VINE assists victims and witnesses by automatically notifying them by phone when there is a change in the custody status of an inmate at the Montgomery County Department of Corrections.  Any interested party may register for VINE in order to receive this automatic notification. A party also can call VINE for information on upcoming court dates. 

Victim witness coordinators also help with victim impact statements.  These statements provide victims and their families an opportunity to express, in their own words, the effect a crime has had on their lives.  The statements also give citizens a chance to speak out on crimes that affect the whole community.

Victim witness coordinators Paula Slan, Ethel Burnett, Rebecca Marcolini, Dolores Briceno, and Cynthia Mendez provide a variety of other services, as well.  They include:

 

· Initiating contact at time of indictment or filing of information

· Generating all correspondence regarding case status: plea agreements, continuances, sentences, reconsideration dates, parole information, and HIV testing

· Locating victims and witnesses

· Scheduling and attending pre-trial conferences

· Interpreting during conferences

· Making case-related field visits to victims’ homes, crime scenes, hospitals

· Making referrals to, and coordinating assistance from, county and state agencies

· Arranging transportation, hotel accommodations, and reimbursement for witnesses

· Providing courtroom tours

· Arranging on-call status and scheduling witnesses for trial

· Accompanying witnesses to court

· Translating incoming and outgoing correspondence for Hispanic victims and witnesses

 

Victim Witness Coordinators

Bad Check and Rental Return Programs

The Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office Victim Witness Coordinators offer a variety of helpful services in complex cases.